THE cause of former Energy minister Amos Midzi’s death last week remains a mystery with no firm confirmation that he committed suicide.
BY RICHARD CHIDZA
The former Harare Zanu PF chairman’s brother Stanley told NewsDay that the family was still waiting for the police to conclude investigations.
“We cannot comment before investigations are concluded. We would rather wait for the toxicology results to be availed to us before we can comment on whether we are happy or not,” Stanley said.
“There might be areas we will likely be happy or unhappy with, but it will be premature for us to pre-empt the process. It will defeat the whole purpose of investigation.”
Police spokesperson Senior Assistant Commissioner Charity Charamba said the police were still investigating the death.
“We are waiting for the results of toxicology tests and then we will issue a statement. Nothing has changed for now,” she said.
- Chamisa under fire over US$120K donation
- Mavhunga puts DeMbare into Chibuku quarterfinals
- Pension funds bet on Cabora Bassa oilfields
- Councils defy govt fire tender directive
Keep Reading
Stanley said the family was satisfied with the manner police were conducting the investigations.
“We are happy with the way the process has been handled because the police were on the scene in their numbers on the day of discovery and a post-mortem was held which is a common practice,” he said.
“Initially, the police had asked if we would want a private forensic pathologist to work with the government doctor, but that would have meant trying to find one outside the country because Zimbabwe only has one.
“In any case issues of forensics are only done by authorities because of the criminal nature of cases that are investigated.”
Stanley, a medical doctor by profession, said besides the government laboratory carrying out toxicology tests, a private laboratory and the University of Zimbabwe were carrying out independent investigations.
“We will then compare these when all is done and only then would we be able to conclusively say what really happened,” he added.
Midzi was found dead in his car last week shortly after he had been slapped with a five-year suspension by Zanu PF and reduced to an ordinary card-carrying member.
He was among the over 140 officials either fired or suspended for working with ousted former Vice-President Joice Mujuru to allegedly topple President Robert Mugabe.
Initial reports were that Midzi might have committed suicide after police recovered poisonous substances and sleeping tablets in his car.
A post-mortem conducted last week concluded that Midzi died of poisoning.
